The Dutch Farmers’ Party joins the government

The party, known in Dutch as BoerBurgerBeweging (BBB), has enjoyed unprecedented electoral success, and political commentators say the BBB protest movement has tapped into widespread concern among Dutch voters that government policies are rapidly changing society in the country, to a greater extent interfering with citizens’ lives and increasing the cost of living.

BBB’s broad reach, combined with leader Caroline Van der Plas’s direct style and her promises of greater accessibility to citizens, helped the party break through as the first in history to win a majority of the vote in every province in a provincial election. The party currently belongs to ten provincial governing coalitions, which is quite an achievement considering its core support from farmers, of whom there are only 50,000 of the Netherlands’ population of 17.6 million.

Now BBB joins the government of the far-right nationalist Freedom Party (PVV), along with the conservative New Social Contract (NSC) and the liberal, pro-business People’s Party for Freedom and Democracy, which led the country’s last four governments.

“Our farmers and fishermen will have a moment of respite again,” said PVV leader Geert Wilders, who resigned as prime minister to secure a coalition agreement. He and his far-right party had to soften some of their harshest anti-Islam policies and anti-EU leanings to win the election and then agree to share power with three other parties.

News about the coalition has been dominated by more restrictive migration policies, but the four parties will also focus on protecting farmers’ interests and securing domestic nuclear and gas supplies.

One of the biggest changes in Dutch policy will concern nitrogen, a key battleground for Dutch farmers, and the issue around which the BBB was formed in 2019, when it proposed a plan to halve the country’s livestock population, on the grounds that nitrogen harms the Dutch nature reserve.

This has infuriated farmers in the Netherlands, which despite its small size is the world’s second-largest agricultural exporter by value.

Thousands took to the streets and roads in protest. These protests played a role in mobilizing farmer demonstrations across the EU, which peaked earlier this year.

With farmers now in the Dutch government, drastic cuts in animal husbandry no longer loom over them. “There is no goal to reduce the number of farm animals and there will be no forced expropriation,” said Van der Plas from BBB after the formation of the coalition government. Alternative anti-pollution measures are envisaged, including the central government taking a leading role in issuing manure processing licenses in cooperation with voivodeships and municipalities. The government manifesto also mentions greater cooperation between agricultural and animal husbandry farmers to spread manure more effectively. arable land.

In addition to relaxing environmental regulations for farmers, the coalition deal includes cheaper diesel for farmers and a focus on land access for young farmers.

The name of the Ministry of Agriculture, Nature and Food Quality will be renamed Agriculture, Fisheries, Food Security and Nature.

“Our farmers, gardeners and fishermen must be respected because they are important to our food supply and the Dutch cultural landscape and are an integral part of our Dutch culture,” the 26-page coalition agreement said.

This pro-agricultural stance could also mean opposition to free trade agreements, such as the long-delayed trade deal with South American countries, which many EU farmers fear.

The Netherlands is an influential EU member state and now that it appears ready to take on some of the EU’s environmental protection activities directly, its new pro-agricultural stance will have an impact on the decision-making balance in the EU. The country is expected to make an ambitious attempt to reform and relax some provisions of the EU’s Nitrates Directive. Irish farmers may hope that this will distract attention from our efforts to maintain the nitrate derogation. Meanwhile, the new Dutch coalition also says it will bring nitrogen and phosphate standards in surface water in line with those of Belgium and Germany.